Two weeks ago someone asked me if I wanted to run a half marathon.
My immediate answer was no. Absolutely not. Why would I ever want to go running a half marathon without training for it? I hadn’t been building mileage or doing long runs or doing anything that would remotely prepare me for 13.1 miles on a hot Fourth of July morning in a park.
No. Hard pass. Not happening.
And then I took the night to think about it.
The person asking wasn’t just anyone. It was Coach Hailey — someone I’ve known for a long time, someone who is important to me personally and to everything we’ve built at Outsiders. And this wasn’t just any race. It was her first half marathon.
She just wanted someone there with her.
That changed everything.
I said yes.
What I Told Myself About Running a Half Marathon Without Training
I want to be honest about my mindset going into this race — not the polished version, but what was actually running through my head.
I knew I wasn’t prepared. I hadn’t trained for a half marathon. But I had been showing up to CrossFit consistently. And at some point I just thought — let’s see if that’s enough to get me to the finish line. Not to run a great time. Not to compete with anyone. Just to finish.
That was the whole goal. Finish.
What I didn’t know was how hard the day was going to make that.
The First Four Miles
Hailey and I ran together for about four miles. The weather was manageable at the start — not comfortable, but workable. We found a rhythm.
And then I told her to go.
I could feel myself starting to fall behind her pace and I didn’t want to be the reason she slowed down on her first half marathon. So I told her to put her headphones in and keep moving. And that’s exactly what she did. She didn’t hesitate. She just kept going.
I want to pause here because watching that happen — watching someone push through something hard without flinching — is one of those moments that sticks with you. Hailey and I have known each other a long time. Neither one of us has ever had a love affair with running. For her to line up for a half marathon and just keep moving no matter what — I took that to heart in the miles that followed.
She crushed it, by the way. Really proud of her.
Miles Five Through Thirteen — What Running a Half Marathon Without Training Actually Feels Like
Here’s where I stop pretending this was a triumphant story and start telling you what it actually was.
Around mile five the heat became a real factor. There was one water station at the very beginning of the course. I had water on me and GU packets, which helped. But the sun was relentless and I started walking.
In the past I probably would have been ashamed of that. The walking. The fact that I wasn’t running the whole thing.
I wasn’t ashamed of it this time.
I made a decision early on — walk in the shade, run in the sun. The course had some shaded stretches and a lot of open sun. So I used the shade to recover and pushed through the sunny spots. It worked for a lap or two. Then it stopped working as well as I needed it to. The sunny spots started getting walked too and my time kept climbing.
By the back half of the race it had become purely mental. My body wasn’t shutting down — I was hydrated, I had fuel, I never felt like the heat was going to take me out. But my mind was doing what minds do in uncomfortable situations. It was making a very reasonable case for quitting.
I wanted to quit. I want to be clear about that. Halfway through this race I genuinely considered stopping.
What I did instead was start counting steps.
Fifty walking steps. Fifty running steps. Back and forth, back and forth. Then fifty walking, a hundred running. It sounds almost too simple. But having something to count — something to focus on that wasn’t the distance remaining or the heat or the fact that I was running a half marathon without training — was the difference. It gave my brain somewhere to go other than the exit.
What CrossFit Gave Me Running a Half Marathon Without Training
I finished last.
It was a smaller race — around 40 people. I was the last one across the finish line.
I have zero regrets about that.
What carried me through wasn’t fitness alone. I mean, fitness helped — there is no world where I finish that race without years of CrossFit in my body. But the thing that actually got me to the finish line was the same thing we build every time we show up to a hard workout and don’t quit.
Mental toughness. The understanding that hard things are survivable. That discomfort is not the same as danger. That the voice telling you to stop is almost always wrong.
In CrossFit we do hard things every day. Some days you’re rested and fueled and everything clicks. Some days you’re running on bad sleep and your legs feel like concrete and you do it anyway. What that builds — quietly, over time, without you really noticing — is a tolerance for hard. A belief that you can keep going even when you don’t want to.
That belief is what got me through 13.1 miles on the Fourth of July without training for it. And it’s exactly what we build together at Outsiders CrossFit every single day. If you’ve ever wondered what consistent training actually does for you beyond the gym, this was my proof.
If that’s the kind of community you’re looking for, we’d love to have you. Start with a free No-Sweat Intro at outsiderscrossfit.com/nsi — no workout, no pressure, just a conversation.
Would I Do It Again?
Unlikely on the Fourth of July in that heat. Maybe in the fall when the conditions are more forgiving. Maybe.
The course itself was also tougher mentally than I expected — not the distance, but the format. Two-mile loops, out and back, six times around. There wasn’t the energy of a crowd lining the streets or the distraction of constantly changing scenery. Just the same park, over and over, while you try to keep moving. I ran the New York Marathon years ago and the crowd carried you in ways you don’t even realize until they’re not there. This was the opposite of that.
But the memory? The memory is worth all of it.
Watching Hailey cross that finish line on her first half marathon is something I’ll carry for a long time. Watching her fight through everything the day threw at her and keep moving anyway — that’s the kind of thing you want to witness in people you care about.
If you’re ever on the fence about doing something — especially something you don’t feel ready for, something you’re not sure you can finish — just ask yourself two questions.
What memories can I make from this?
Who can I make them with?
Sometimes the answers to those questions are exactly what makes saying yes worthwhile.
Do the hard stuff. Even when you don’t want to.
— Coach Joe
Outsiders CrossFit | Sparks, MD Fitness for Life
